


This could only ever happen to us

by Beowolf



Category: The Maze Runner (Movies)
Genre: Brotherly Bonding, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 17:01:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28959882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beowolf/pseuds/Beowolf
Summary: The two boys have the worst luck sometimes.
Relationships: Thomas and Chuck
Kudos: 2





	This could only ever happen to us

Chuck wasn’t making this project go any faster. In fact Thomas found himself growing more and more distracted no thanks to the younger boy’s constant jokes and bugging of the teen. For the umpteenth time Thomas let out a sigh when yet another paper flake storm rained down on his head. He turned around and gave the boy an unimpressed look as the younger one snickered. 

“Chuck you know you’re going to have to clean that up right?” Thomas said, barely containing his annoyance. 

“Yeah?” the other answered, reaching for the spare page next to Thomas, intending to tear off the edge. The elder one quickly swiped the blank page and tucked it into his history folder. 

“Clean it up, now.” The brunette sighed. He really shouldn’t have put off this power point till the last second. Serves him right for not making it the number one priority and kept reassuring himself that had he time. Time had turned into cramming it all in the night before instead of diligently working. Chuck only rolled his eyes in response and kneeled down to start scooping the bits of paper onto his hand. Thomas thought that was the end of that and continued to type and methodically write down any little notes he might have missed… until bits of paper fell into his view. 

“Chuck!” 

The boy seemed to jump a little at his brother’s sharp tone, and a little crease formed between his eyebrows. 

“There’s nothing to do!” he argued. Already Thomas could feel another headache coming on, and he reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. It took away a little bit of the discomfort. A tense silence fell for a second before the kid sighed. 

“Sorry…” he said, somewhat deflated. Thomas turned to him, now feeling a little bad for reacting the way he did. 

“Nah. Don’t be sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped.” The atmosphere relaxed as did the boys. 

“What’s the project on again?” Chuck asked, diligently sweeping up the mess of paper off the floor and stuffing it in his backpack. 

“There’s a garbage just down the hall you know.” Thomas snorted. 

“I’m not going down there it’s dark!” 

“It’s not dark the lights are-“ Just as he was looking only then did Thomas realize how dark it had actually gotten in the library. How long had they been here? He grabbed his phone and checked the time, and as the white letters surfaced on the screen, Thomas felt a little bit of dread hit him. 

Shit. It was already eleven, and the library typically closed at ten. A pit opened in the teen’s stomach. Why didn’t anyone alert them? 

“Get your stuff together.” He said, rapid fire reviewing his power point and notes. It wasn’t a great presentation, but he had everything that the syllabus asked for. It answered all the required questions, and he had the basic information and notes jotted down. He’d just have to wing it in the morning he supposed. 

“I got some spare cash, want to get dinner at DQ?” The younger one proposed. 

“Sure, we can get some sundaes too, let’s get out of here.” Thomas replied. He swore he’d make it up to Chuck over the weekend. It’d be different if he came home late from work, but this last minute cram session was totally on him. Maybe they could go to a movie or something over the weekend.

It didn’t take long for them to get all their stuff together, and quickly made their way down the lines of bookshelves. The light had dimmed, causing some speculation as to why they suddenly went off. Thomas knew the librarian pretty well since he and Chuck liked to get most of their work done here. Was it a malfunction or did she just forget they were there? Normally staff came over to let them know the place would be closing soon. 

As they walked between the shelves being surrounded by them only added to Thomas’s apprehension rather than giving him a sense of security. Already his imagination was running away with him while he pictured a pair of red eyes staring back at him from behind one of the shelves. When they approached the door, he reached out and grasped the cold metal handle. Dread hit him like cinderblock when he realized the door was not budging. He shook it a few times before realizing it was fruitless. 

“Fuck.” He muttered, almost forgetting Chuck was nearby. In other situation the brunette was pretty conscious about his language in front of him, but this wasn’t one of them. 

“Is it- is it locked?” 

“Yeah. We’re locked in.” Thomas replied plainly. No sense in sugar-coating any of his words after all. 

“Oh.” 

They were both quiet for a moment while the older one was internally panicking. Really? He had to get them locked in a freaking library? What next? Would Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees come around the corner ready to shred them up into bits? Or perhaps some pathetic monster from a low budget horror movie would snag them. 

“Shit, okay…” Thomas sighed and pulled out his phone, hoping to find security help from anyone who worked at the library. Suddenly he felt Chuck pulling on his backpack and unzipping it, pulling out a particularly heavy textbook. 

“What are you doing?” 

“I got a plan stand back.” Chuck replied taking a step, as Thomas turned to him. 

“What are you-“ But as soon as the kid raised the book above his head, and aimed for the left window next to the entrance, it wasn’t hard to figure out what his intentions were. The teen barely halted Chuck in time as the book went crashing down onto the floor, its thud echoing throughout the quiet building. 

“Hey! What gives!?” The boy protested as he wrenched his hands out of Thomas’s grip.

“You can’t just smash a window! Do you have any idea how much trouble we’d be in for that?” Thomas admonished. 

“You got any other ideas genius?” The other snapped back. 

“Yeah something that doesn’t involve vandalism or having to cough up the money for said broken window.” 

“Okay then don’t put your assignment off till the last minute.” Chuck teased. Even if it was dark, it wasn’t difficult to make out the smug grin on the other’s face. Thomas rolled his eyes and proceeded to try the windows. 

“Says the one who forgets to turn in his homework.” 

“Fine we’re even.” The other muttered half-heartedly. They tried messing with the windows, picking the lock on the door, using brute strength and still came up with nothing. 

“All right that didn’t work let’s smash it.” Chuck suggested ready to grab whatever blunt object was nearby. 

“Why is breaking everything your solution?” Thomas snorted, as they wandered, and looked around the empty library for any exit that might be nearby. No go. 

“So we can get the hell out of here?” Chuck replied. 

“Let’s try and achieve that by not causing damage.” 

“But Minho would approve!” 

“Minho approves of any sort of destruction.” 

“What about that open window up there?” 

“Huh? Where?” 

As he looked up Thomas caught sight the open window above them, on the quiet floor. The dark night glittered slightly with the few stars that were out. And a faint breeze quietly rolled in. There were only a couple of levels in the building, but the upper floor was for much needed silence, and to shut out any unnecessary noise or commotion. They both initially tried that workspace a few times but any little noise, even if accidental often got the pair a few glares. Since last time they just decided to stay on the first floor, even if it could be crowded sometimes. 

Both boys stared at the window before their views turned to each other. A cheeky grin spread across Chuck’s face and Thomas couldn’t help but break out into raucous laughter. 

“I guess we are breaking out like criminals, come on, let’s get out of here. I’m hungry.” Chuck said, grabbing Thomas’s hand and pulling him to the staircase. They both walked up and arrived on the dark floor, quickly making their way toward the open window. Thomas flipped on the light on his phone and shined it down outside. They’d have to get creative, because it was quite a drop to the field below. 

“Okay, here’s what’s going down. You hold onto my arms and I’m gonna try and drop down.” Thomas said, and was met with Chuck’s wide-eyed expression. 

“What!? I’m not strong enough for that, why can’t I drop down first? I’m lighter than you.” 

“Yeah but I need to catch you. You probably wouldn’t appreciate getting squished by me.” 

“But what if I-“ 

“Chuck we’re wasting time, now are you gonna help me or not?” 

“Okay, take off your backpack first.” Thomas slid off the heavy pack onto the floor right beside the boy and then threw a leg over the edge of the window. 

“Okay… just hold on really tight.” 

The awkward process took a minute, while Chuck slowly eased his brother out into the chilly night, still retaining his death grip around the other’s wrists. 

“Ow! You don’t have to squeeze that hard-“ 

“Oh I’m so sorry Tommy do you want me drop you?” 

“Just lower me down as far as you can…” Thomas said, dragging his feet down across the cement. The cold night wind hit him like a sheet of ice. A shiver ran up his spine as Chuck leaned forward, holding on with all his might. His arms stretched out as Thomas tried to gauge how far of a fall he would have to bear before he was dropped. 

“Okay… when do you-“ Suddenly pain shot up in both his wrists, that hurt enough for the older boy to slip out of his grip. 

“Thomas!!” Chuck yelled out as the other fell for only a milli-second before hitting the ground. He landed onto the soft grass with a bound and a loud yelp. He lied there for a moment, before the soreness in his side and shoulder set in . 

“Thomas! Are you okay?” Chuck yelled from the window, or more like shrieked. 

“Still alive… just barely.” the other muttered as he slowly sat up, feeling dirt and grime sticking to the back of his neck. “Oh god. I think I’m gonna need to hammer down the ibues when we get home…” 

“Are you gonna be okay? You didn’t- you didn’t break any bones did you?” Thomas thought about feigning injury but decided against it. It wasn’t worth giving him the scare and having Chuck hold it over his head for weeks. 

“I’m okay! It doesn’t hurt that much. Toss my backpack down!” Chuck did just that before he nervously leaned over the window. 

“Uhhh… I don’t if I can-“ 

“Just go for it. I’ll catch you!” 

“Right…” he tossed his backpack down to Thomas before hesitating a moment. 

“Come on! Go for it!” Chuck took a deep breath and proceeded to climb down. He hung onto the ledge for a second before he dropped down into a strong pair of arms. They both crashed to the ground but were still in one piece. 

“See? I got you.” Thomas smiled taking a moment to hug Chuck close. Both boys began to break out into heavy laughter. This whole thing could only ever happen to them, knowing their luck. 

“All right, come on.” Thomas said, hoisting Chuck to his feet, “Let’s go home.” 

“But DQ first.” Chuck said while they made their way to the car. 

“Of course, DQ first. It’s the least I can do after I got us trapped.” 

“I mean I don’t completely regret it.” 

“You don’t?” Thomas laughed as he unlocked the car. 

“Yeah we’re partners in crime now, every jail is after us.” Chuck said. They both hopped in the car and soon drove off, to a well-deserved meal and good night’s rest. 

\--- 

Bonus! 

“Hey where’s my textbook?” 

“You mean the one I tried to smash the window with?” 

“Yeah that one.” 

“…” 

“… Shit.” 

“So are we breaking back into the library or…?”


End file.
